


Like You Imagined When You Were Young

by ZsforSs



Series: The World Might Do Me In [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Boners, Ben is secretly a huge videogame nerd, Canon-Typical Violence, Espionage, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Hux, Good Espionage, Hux is So Done, I still hate that ship name, Jedi Armitage Hux, Jedi Ben Solo, Jedi Mind Trick, M/M, Space Buzzfeed, Standard Star Wars Tropes, There isn't a tag for Kylo's ridiculous Bat Shuttle?, These boys have no idea what they're doing, Upsilon Shuttle, benarmie, but not like, hux needs a nap, spy mission, you know the ones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-30 01:56:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13940091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZsforSs/pseuds/ZsforSs
Summary: After finishing their Jedi Training Ben and Hux decide to take some time off for themselves.  The trip is going well- until Ben's Mom 'asks' them to infiltrate a First Order facility and steal some information.  Because that's a totally reasonable thing for a mother to ask their child to do.  It will definitely be easy and not at all life threatening.Hux is tired already.





	Like You Imagined When You Were Young

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to The World Might Do Me In, but you can probably read this without reading the previous fic. This fic takes place about four years after the end of the last fic.
> 
> About Thrawn: I have not seen Rebels, or read any of the Legends books about Thrawn. I did read the new Thrawn book though! I don't think he's out of character. *bites nails*

“Mooom!”  Ben groaned from the other room.

The noise was enough to convince Hux he should drag himself out of bed.  It was still technically morning, he hadn’t been completely overcome by sloth.  He dressed slowly in the ratty sleep shirt and boxers he’d abandoned at the foot of the bed the night before.  Ben was probably similarly attired, his sleeping pants weren’t on the floor anymore and he'd have woken up sooner if Ben had been digging around in the closet.

Hux felt sore and… gross.  He needed caf, and a shower, and food- not necessarily in that order.

“Ok! Ok…” 

But first he should go find out what Ben was talking with his mother about.

Ben was slumped in the pilot’s seat, pouting at a holo of his mother.  He _was_ in his pajama pants.  From this angle, standing behind him in the door of the cabin, Hux could see he actually _had_ left scratches across Ben’s shoulders from last night.  It made his own shoulders ache in sympathy- or maybe that was just the one shoulder, where Ben had bitten him.  Hux glanced down- yes he did have a vivid bite just where it stung most.

They’d gone to one of the bigger casinos on Arquella Prime last night.  At the end of the night they’d come back to their shuttle very late- a little wealthier and a little drunk and possibly a little high- and decided halfway through getting ready for bed that they should have awkward drunk sex.

Hux distinctly remembered saying “That’s what irresponsible young people like us do isn’t it?”

And Ben had laughed at him even as he pulled Hux’s shirt off.

It hadn’t been particularly awkward at all in Hux’s opinion-though he would be the first to admit he was biased- and Hux had been looking forward to lounging around in bed with Ben the next morning.  Instead he got an empty bed and a far too early call from his… Ben’s mother.

“Armitage,” Leia said.   _Apparently_ she was able to see him because some idiot had set the sensitivity for the holocam ridiculously high.  “Good morning.”

Hux nodded, painfully aware of the evidence of last night all over him and Ben.  “Leia.”  He would not blush. “What can we do for you?”

Ben sunk down in his chair.

“Nothing more than you already are.”  Organa said.  Her face remained serene, but Hux swore he could see the vindictive sparkle in her eyes.

“What?” Hux asked.  Ben shrunk down even more.

“Thank you so much boys,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken.  “I’ll see you soon.”

“ _What_.” Hux repeated.

The comm ended.

Hux turned to Ben, who looked like he was trying to hide in the pilot’s seat.  He had his head in his hands.

“Ben?”

“She used her Mom powers,” Ben said.  “I couldn’t say no!”

“What did she want?” Hux asked. 

Ben turned to him.  “So the Resistance just got some intel about a First Order research facility.”

Hux groaned.

“And wouldn’t you know it’s on the moon of Ispar VII, which is right by us, so she asked if we could maybe-”

“Ben _why_.”

“-Infiltrate the base and steal all the data we can get our hands on.”

“Ben we’re supposed to be on vacation,” Hux whined.

Luke had deemed them done with training, they’d finished their lightsabers, mastered all the basics.  In celebration they’d decided to go wander around the galaxy.  Just the two of them.  On this tiny shuttle Han had somehow gotten a hold of and given to Ben on his last birthday.  No parents, or uncles, or little sisters or classmates.  The plan had been to take some time to be alone together before the real world called.

Ben stood and came to him, taking Hux’s hands. “We are.”

“You said we were going to Naboo.” Hux added, fully aware of how petulant he sounded.

“We will,” Ben kissed his cheek.  “We’re three hours from Ispar VII.  We’ll go in, steal some stuff and leave.  A few more hours to the Resistance Base, and then we’ll be on our way to Naboo again.  We won’t even be a day behind schedule.”

Ben kissed his forehead next. “She said she’d owe us one.”

Hux sighed.  “I need a shower,” he announced.

“Hey!” Ben said brightly.  “I also need a shower!”

Hux huffed, and _did not_ smile. “Come on then.”

* * *

 “So we get in, find a terminal, copy their records and get out!” Ben said cheerily.  “Easy!”

“Ben we’re several hundred feet up the side of a cliff,” Hux pointed out.  “Already this trip isn’t easy.”

The moon of Ispar VII was primarily high desert.  Craggy red and purple rocks spattered haphazardly with drifts of snow. 

And this was _summer_.

Sneaking onto the planet without tripping the orbital defenses hadn’t been too hard. Neither had hiding the ship away in one of the craggy canyons surrounding the base.  The base itself was built into the side of a large mesa.  A mesa they were currently scaling.  They’d spent the last two hours getting to and climbing the side of the mesa with nothing but the Force and each other to keep themselves from a nasty fall.  At least they hadn’t been spotted, and were nearing the lowest levels of the complex.

“ _Finally_.”  Hux sighed as they came across an emergency escape pod bay.  They paused on a narrow ledge to the left of the pod and ran through the plan, such as it was.

“We need to get into the central administration center- or as close as possible.  They’ll have the most useful data there,” Hux said.  “The laundry facilities should be on the lower levels, hopefully close by.”

“Dressing up in First Order uniforms again,” Ben grinned at him.  “I’m sensing a theme.”

“We’re infiltrating the facility not storming it.”

Ben shrugged.  “I’m not complaining.  You look good in uniform.”

Hux rolled his eyes. “Just pop the escape pod already.” 

Ben was closest to the pod.  He shut his eyes and focused.  Escape pods were almost universally in pressurized docks.  They usually released as the pod’s engines fired up and helped propel the pod away from the docking bay.

But if the pressurized seals were compromised-

There was a loud bang, and the escape pod shot out nearly 100 feet before spiraling down and impacting on the ground far below.

“Showtime.” Ben said.

They hurried through the empty bay and into the facility.  Hux turned to the pod bay terminal to see if there was anything useful in it. 

“Freeze!”

The girl standing behind them and pointing a blaster at Hux was very young, her sleeves marked her a sergeant.

“Ok,” Ben said.  Immediately the girl went unnaturally still.  Hux sidestepped out of the line of her blaster just in case.

“Did she comm anyone else?” Hux asked immediately.

Ben frowned in concentration. “No.  She’s on a routine patrol of the lower levels.  She thought the pod had just malfunctioned.  She’s got some engineering experience, she wanted to see if she could find out what happened before calling it in.”

Hux relaxed minutely.

“What do we do with her?” Ben asked.

“Bodies are suspicious.” Hux said looking out the empty pod bay at the snowy landscape outside.

“She’s the twins’ age.” Ben said, almost reproachfully.

Hux looked at Ben.  He had that sad wobbly chin look he got when he thought Hux was being too mean.  Hux rolled his eyes, and sent him a quiet reassurance.  Bodies were suspicious no matter where they were.

“Let me see how soft her head is first,” Hux said.  He walked up to the girl.  She’s wide-eyed but her eyes look equally defiant and scared.  It looked, based on the tiny tremors wracking her body, like she was still trying to break free of Ben’s hold. 

That was probably a bad thing.

First Hux took her comm from her belt.  He opened the battery slot and flipped the power cartridge around before returning it to her belt, effectively rendering the comm useless.  If things worked out this wouldn’t even be noticed until later- much later.

Next he took her datapad- stuck haphazardly in her inside breast pocket- and switched it on.  “What’s her passcode?” Hux asked.

Ben was better at this.  Picking thoughts and information out of people’s heads.  He seemed to have a knack for dipping in and out of people’s minds- often without them noticing.  Hux sometimes wondered if it was because he spent so much time in Hux’s.  Hux could probably have found out the sergeant’s passcode himself, but it would have taken at least three times as long and been much less pleasant for the poor girl.

“2989” Ben said.

Hux unlocked the pad and made sure the sergeant hadn’t missed any check-ins.  It looked like they were lucky.  Hux handed the pad to Ben.  “Keep that,” he said.

He focused on the girl now, and took a deep, steadying breath.  _This_ was what he was good at.  “Calm down,” he murmured.  He felt some of her tension ease, but not enough.

“What’s her name?” he asked Ben.  Usually that helped.

“Alessara.  Alessara Jupri.”

“ _Sergeant Jupri_.”  Hux said, meeting the girl’s eyes. _“Calm down.”_

She probably would have dropped to the floor altogether if Ben hadn’t been holding her up. Ben relaxed, and Hux almost smiled.  This would work after all.  He nodded at Ben, who let her go.  The arm holding her blaster dropped.

_“Put your blaster away.”_

She did it.

 _“You didn’t find anything when you checked the pod bay.”_ Hux said, maintaining eye contact.  Traditionally Jedi Mind tricks involved waving your hands around like an idiot.  Hux had never needed to do that- and had no intention of ever trying it.

“I didn’t find anything when I checked the pod bay.”  Sergeant Jupri echoed.

 _“The pod was in place and everything was normal.”_ Hux said.  Before she could echo him he continued. _“You’re going to finish your patrol now. You had better hurry, you’re behind schedule.”_

The young sergeant gasped.  “I’m behind schedule!”  She was gone the next moment, speed-walking away muttering to herself about being so slow, how could she be so distracted? What would the Commander think?

Hux glanced at Ben, who grinned and nodded.  The false memories had stuck.

The only thing useful Hux was able to rip from the computer terminal in the pod bay was a map of the facility- which was thankfully laid out in such a way that the laundry room was nearby and easy to sneak into.

They kitted themselves out in black NCO uniforms, with the proper insignia to mark them as military technicians, carefully concealing their too long hair in their caps and plotted their route to Central Administration.  The only snag was that there were no boots Hux’s size, so Hux put on a too big pair and hoped he wouldn’t twist an ankle.

At the last second before they headed out Hux snagged a trainee badge and pinned it on Ben’s chest.

“Hey!” Ben protested.  Hux shushed him.

No one questioned them as they strode through the halls.  A junior officer gave them an odd look when Hux had to grab Ben’s arm at an intersection to keep him from veering off the wrong way.  The look changed to one of amusement when the officer noticed Ben’s badge.

There weren’t many people on the base it seemed- or their shifts were scattered oddly- because they were now more than halfway to Central Admin and hadn’t seen anyone else.  Being immediately caught appeared to have been bad luck- hopefully that was the last of it for them. 

As they passed a small hangar for experimental crafts Ben stopped dead.

“What are you doing?”  Hux snapped quietly.  Ben was staring awestruck into the hangar.  Hux didn’t see why, all there was in there was an ugly black shuttle-

“It’s beautiful,” Ben whispered.

“Ben it looks like a mynock fucked an old Lamda class shuttle.”

Ben shot him a horrified look.  “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Hux rolled his eyes.  “Come on,” he said.  “We’ve got work to do.”

Ben sighed dramatically but followed him.

Hux had concocted an elaborate story to explain their presence in Central Admin should anyone ask, but it turned out to be unnecessary.  As soon as they walked in the officer on duty- a lieutenant-asked.  “You boys here to finally fix that console?”  He gestured to a standing console in the corner of the room with a sloppily written ‘out of order’ sign stuck on it. 

“Yes sir,” Hux said immediately. 

“Have at it then,” the lieutenant said, turning away from them as he did.

They set up shop at the broken console.  It was half of a paired station, which made it exceedingly easy for Hux to plug the blank datastick they’d brought into the functional console.  It was linked to his datapad, which displayed how much they still had to copy.  Hux swapped datapads with Ben, leaving him to monitor the download. 

Meanwhile Hux linked the stolen datapad with the malfunctioning console and started running hardware functionality tests.

 _~Are you actually trying to fix that console? ~_ Ben asked.

Hux sent him the mental equivalent of a shrug. _~Might as well. ~_

It was only five minutes later when everything started to go to shit.

“Sir, one of the outer patrols found an unidentified shuttle in one of the canyons,” one of the officers said.

“Put it up on screen and someone alert Commander Thrawn.”  The lieutenant said.

Hux started and hissed _“What?”_ out loud, before immediately clamping a hand over his own mouth.  No one heard him over the sound of various officers’ ‘Yes sir’s, and luckily the broken console was in a corner, out of anyone else’s line of sight.

Ben stepped on his foot.

Hux dropped his hand and forcibly composed himself.  He was fine, he was calm.  This was fine.

_~Hux? ~_

_~How much time is still on the download? ~_

_~At least fifteen minutes. ~_

_~Shit.~_ Hux sighed quietly.  Maybe the Commander was just strangely named.  Maybe it was the middle of his sleep cycle and he wouldn’t be here for another half an hour-

The doors to Central Administration opened seven minutes later because the Force or Destiny or something hated Hux and wanted him to suffer.

A tall alien strode in.  He had blue skin, red eyes and dark blue-black hair gone dark grey at the temples.  “Lieutenant.  What do we have?”

 _~Kriffing Thrawn. ~_ Hux’s mental voice was a whisper.  _~Stars I thought he was dead. ~_

 _~Who’s Thrawn? ~_ Ben asked.

Hux shot him an incredulous look. _~_ Who’s Thrawn? _How do you not know- actually you probably don’t.  I doubt the Republic would glorify a hero from the other side of the conflict. ~_

“Outer patrol found an unknown shuttle in one of the canyons, sir.  It’s on screen now.  No occupants.”  The lieutenant explained.  “Team on sight is look through the ships computer and contents now.

 _~He’s a strategic mastermind, ~_ Hux said. _~One of the Old Empire’s best.  And he’s a master of counter- intelligence. ~_

 _~So we’re fucked, ~_ Ben said.

 _~Maybe. ~_ Hux told him. _~We might have to fight our way out of this. ~_

Ben nodded minutely.  They’d both brought their sabers, just in case.

“Corporal,” Thrawn addressed the First Order officer on the comm screen.  “What can you tell us?”

“Not much sir, the computer’s set to auto-wipe daily.  Last known stop was Arquella Prime.  They received a transmission a few hours ago- no record of the contents of the comm but it was on a Resistance frequency.”

Hux sent Ben a mental poke.  Ben had the decency to look abashed at least.  _Honestly_.  He gets a secret transmission from his terrorist mother and _doesn’t bother wiping the computer?  Really?_

“I’m not familiar with Arquella Prime.”  Thrawn said to the officers in the room.

“It’s an orbiting pleasure satellite around one of the gas giants in the Arquella system, sir.”  One of the techs explained.  “There’s not much law out there so it’s mostly a den of gambling and prostitution.”

As well as at least three of the best restaurants in this branch of the galaxy, a large population of locals with families and one of the strictest police forces Hux had ever seen in an independent system.  It was much less a wretched hive of scum and villainy than the tech was making it sound.

Thrawn nodded.  “What else can you tell us about the shuttle Corporal?”

“Not much else to it sir, nothing else on board except some food and clothes.  It looks like there were two people on board sir going by the clothes.  Ship’s registered on Nal Hutta though it’s likely a false registration- no ship name listed, the name on the register is Kylo Ren.”

 _~You used your hologame alias for your fake ship registration?~_   Hux asked.

Ben pouted. _~ I couldn’t think of anything else!~_

“Thank you Corporal.  Move your unit back a safe distance and scuttle the ship,” Thrawn ordered.

“Yessir!”

Thrawn turned to the lieutenant.  “I want all hangars on total lockdown, and put the entire station on high alert.  If these spies are already in the compound we don’t want them leaving.  Have the patrols out sweep for lifeforms outside the compound and I want a roll call of all staff.”  

“Yessir!”

As the lieutenant started reeling off orders Thrawn turned away from the comm and strode over to the console Ben and Hux were at.

“Any idea what’s wrong with that terminal yet technician?” Thrawn asked.

Ben looked like he was going to throw up, but the trainee badge on his chest excused that.

“Not yet sir,” Hux said. He kept his eyes glued to the console as he continued.  “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the hardware or any of the normal programs.  I’m running an entire operating system diagnostic now-oh.”

Just then the diagnostic finished.  Hux leaned forward to read the results.  That was- hmm.  Hux checked a few more things.

“Yes?” Thrawn prompted.  As he did the data download finally finished.  Ben shifted awkwardly, using the motion to pull out the datastick from the functional console and pocket it.

“It looks like someone hacked this terminal, connected it to the Holonet, and downloaded several hologames before hitting one that was actually a virus of some kind,” Hux explained.  Thrawn was looking Ben over intently.  Hux pressed on with his explanation.  “The console should be fine once I scrub the virus from the system and repair any damaged files.”

Thrawn’s gaze shifted to Hux, looking him over from head to toe. 

“Sir!” one of the techs called.  “We’re getting a report one escape pods malfunctioned about an hour ago.  Apparently its docking ring failed.”

Thrawn turned away, “Why wasn’t it reported sooner?” he asked.

Hux quickly deleted the most obviously corrupted files, and then initiated the console’s self-repairing function. The console worked agonizingly slowly- but Hux wasn’t going to be around to see the program finish.

“The officer patrolling that quadrant didn’t notice the malfunction until a few minutes ago.”

Hux tugged on Ben’s sleeve, and the pair of them quietly left as Thrawn ordered staff to comm the patrolling officer.

They made it out of Central Admin, but they didn’t have much time.

 _~He knows. ~_ Hux said in Ben’s head.

 _~You’re sure? ~_ Ben asked. Hux nodded once, tightly.

 _~Why’d he let us leave? ~_ Ben asked.

_~ I don’t know, maybe he thought we were there to sabotage stuff. We need cover of some kind. ~_

_~…A place like this has got to be well ventilated right? ~_ Ben asked as he tugged Hux into an alcove with a large vent cover a few feet off the ground.

Hux groaned.

“You got a better idea?” Ben murmured.

Hux shook his head, and set about helping Ben pry the vent cover off.

“You first.” Hux insisted. The vents were indeed bigger than the standard vents- likely because the complex was large and primarily underground- but it was still going to be cozy.  Hux squeezed in besides Ben and together they wrestled the grate back on.  They’d only just gotten it in place when a squad of Stormtroopers ran by.

“Yes sir,” one of them with a captain’s pauldron was saying into his comm. “We’re on the way to the main hangar now.”

Even with the sizable vents it was a tight fit, especially with them side by side.

“We won’t make it to the main hangar,” Ben whispered.

“That’s why we’re going to steal the Mynock-Fucker.”  Hux hissed back.

Ben gasped.  “Really?” he yelped.

_“Sssshhh!”_

Hux wiggled past Ben so he was in the lead.  Ben helped him along- though Hux doubted Ben needed to grope him quite as much as he did while ‘helping’.

Aided by the map on the stolen datapad Hux was able to navigate them back to the small experimental hangar where they had seen the galaxy’s ugliest shuttle.  It took nearly half an hour- but Hux figured they had made the right decision considering no less than fifteen squads ran by on their trek.  They both still had their lightsabers of course, but in a fight between the two of them and the entire facility they would eventually lose.

The last hurdle came when they reached the vent immediately across from the hangar- and Hux couldn’t open the grate, with or without Force assistance.

Physical manipulation had never been his forte, he thought morosely.  Oh he could lift rocks just fine but he’d never had the brute strength of Ben or Rey’s knack for fine detail…

Hux was distracted from his distressed musing by Ben grabbing his ass.  Hux squeaked- except he didn’t because he was a grown man who did not make noises like-

“An angry kitten.” Ben murmured as he hauled himself up Hux’s body, squirming and wriggling up until he was squeezed behind Hux.

Hux hissed at him in displeasure- and then frowned when he realized that wouldn’t help the ‘cat’ comparison.

_~Now is not the time to be groping people Ben Solo. ~_

“Sorry.” Ben whispered in his ear.  He wrapped an arm around Hux’s waist.  “I couldn’t listen to you beat yourself up anymore.”

 _~Will you open it? ~_ Hux asked.  He also thought loudly about how Ben shouldn’t be whispering.  Someone might hear him.

Ben nuzzled the back of Hux’s head.  _~You can do it.  You’re better with the Force than you realize. ~_

 _~Ben just do it!  We don’t have time for a fucking pep talk! ~_ Hux snapped.

There was the distinct feeling of something long and hard poking him in the small of the back.

“Really?” Hux whispered.

 _~You’re really sexy when you’re frustrated. ~_ Ben said.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Hux hissed. 

Ben’s cock twitched.  He _felt_ it. _~I mean, you’re always sexy but…~_

Hux stopped listening.  He shoved Ben’s hands away and tried to squirm away from Ben and his ridiculously poorly timed erection.  He couldn’t get away though, trapped by the _fucking grate_ -

The grate exploded outwards, clanging into the opposite wall. 

Hux spilled out of the vent, flopping face first into the hallway.  He whipped around and glared at Ben- who was still in the vent, grinning like an idiot

“What the fuck was that?!” he demanded.  He didn’t bother to be quiet- the grate had been more than loud enough to blow their cover.

“You did that.”  Ben said calmly as he crawled out of the vent.  Hux opened his mouth to argue- and then closed it again, because now that he thought about it Ben was probably right.

“You could have done it quieter.” Hux pointed out.

Ben stood.  “Maybe, maybe not, but the ship’s right there. It’s fine.”

Hux let it go, for now anyway.  They could argue about this later.  He turned away from Ben and headed for the Mynock-Fucker.  He heard Ben fall into step behind him.

They were nearly to the boarding ramp when Hux’s stomach dropped.  Something was _wrong_.  He stopped, and turned to Ben. “Do you-”

The next moment was confusing even in hindsight- he saw Ben frowning as well, he noticed something _behind_ Hux, and then Ben’s Force energy wrapped around him and threw him sideways.

The first stun bolt missed him- as he was suddenly three feet away from where he’d been- but the second and third both hit Ben square in the chest.  He dropped like a puppet with his strings cut.

“Ben!” Hux shouted.  Ben should have been able to stop those bolts, at least the ones aimed at him, but he’d moved Hux out of the way instead.  If they got out of this alive Hux was going to strangle him.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.”

Hux froze.  Oh fuck everything.

“Hands up.” Thrawn said from behind him.  Hux obeyed.

“Turn around.”

Ben was breathing.  Hux reassured himself as he slowly turned.  Two stun bolts at once could affect people’s breathing, but that was mostly smaller people and Ben was giant and he was visibly breathing so Hux needed to _stop freaking out_ and focus on keeping himself from getting stunned too.

Hux took one big stuttery breath as he turned to face Commander Thrawn and a small squad of four Stormtroopers and a junior officer.  They must have been hiding in the hangar, waiting.  The junior officer looked familiar, Hux thought. She was about his age, maybe they had been at the Academy together?  He couldn’t put a name to the face though.

Thrawn was looking him over again.  Hux wasn’t sure what he was seeing besides a ginger kid in a technician’s uniform and too big shoes.

“You aren’t Resistance are you?” Thrawn said.  He sounded _curious_.  That was both very good and very bad news.  Curiosity meant questions, questions took time, which was what Hux needed.  But answering questions was a dangerous prospect indeed.

Hux said nothing, but Thrawn wasn’t done talking. “Oh I’ve no doubt the data you stole from our computers is _for_ the Resistance, but you don’t seem the type to be one of their own spies.  What are they paying you?”

Hux laughed out loud, maybe a touch hysterically, because the answer to that question was ‘ _it’ll make my boyfriend’s mother happy.’_

“There are not enough credits in the galaxy to pay for the day I am having _,_ ” Hux said.

Thrawn’s eyes narrowed. 

Wait. Did he not _know_?  Hux had assumed Thrawn would already know who he was- he knew he must be something of an open secret in the upper echelons of the First Order military, especially with his father still in the ranks- but if Thrawn was newly arrived to the Order maybe his name hadn’t come up yet.  Thrawn being newly arrived-returned?- would also explain what he was doing _here_.

“I must say your performance was admirable,” Thrawn said.  “I would have believed it except for some bad luck on your part- there is no one with your particular coloration on base.  Even then you might have escaped the notice of a human commander, but to a Chiss your particular coloration stands out.  Rather like meeting a human with naturally blue-” Thrawn stepped closer, and craned his head to examine Hux’s eyes. “Or green hair would be.”

 _~Is he hitting on you? ~_ Ben asked, a full ten minutes before he should have been awake again.  It took all of Hux’s self-control to not visibly relax. _~Because if he’s hitting on you I’m going to kill him. ~_

 _~ I think he’s just trying to be intimidating actually, ~_ Hux replied.  _~Or bragging. ~_

 _~Hmm. Well he shouldn’t be doing that either,~_ Ben said. _~Grab his blaster would you? ~_

Hux grinned, he could almost feel the suspicion rolling off Thrawn.  “Armitage Hux,” he introduced himself.  “I’m actually a big fan.”

Thrawn took a half step forward. “Hux,” he echoed.  So this _was_ news to him.  _Good_.

Hux lunged.  Both hands closing around Thrawn’s blaster and forcing it up just as the Chiss squeezed off a shot.  Hux swore he felt a tingle of energy as the bolt whizzed past his face.

They grappled over the gun for a moment.  They were very nearly the same height- Hux suspected in bare feet he might actually have an inch or so on Thrawn- but Thrawn definitely has more muscle mass.  Hux was aware that several of the troopers had opened fire- only to have their stun rays bounce back at them.  Several troopers dropped their blasters and the junior officer went down, but he didn’t have time to drag this out.

Hux locked eyes with Thrawn.  “ _Let go_ ,” he pressed.  Hard.

It didn’t work, not completely, Hux hadn’t expected it to.  But Thrawn’s grip loosened, just a fraction- and that was all Hux needed to rip the blaster away.

Thrawn lunged for him, trying to tackle him before he could get a shot off.

He stopped mid-lunge as Ben caught him up with the Force and flung him into the still standing troopers.  Ben staggered to his feet-still obviously woozy from the stun bolts but alert enough.  Hux shoved him up the ramp and onto the ship.

The interior was mostly empty.  There was just a plastic sheet hanging in the doorway to the cockpit.  Ben rushed to get the ship airborne while Hux tried to find anything in the rest of the ship he could use against the First Order troops.  He found nothing- none of the interior had been finished except the toilet which sat in the corner without even a privacy curtain around it.

“Close the ramp!” Hux shouted as the first Stormtrooper climbed up.  He kicked the trooper in the chest, knocking him back off the ramp.

Ben cursed quietly from the cockpit. “I’m not sure how!” he called.

Hux abandoned the ramp and stuck his head in the cockpit.  “Well you’d better find out or this is going to be a short trip!” 

Hux left Ben and turned back to the ramp just as the troopers tried again to storm the ramp.  Four troopers and Thrawn boarded.  At least he had a blaster and it looked like none of them did.

The ship engines hummed to life.  Ben must have decided not to bother with the ramp. 

“Hold on to something!” Ben shouted as the ship lifted off the ground.

Hux just had time to register there was absolutely nothing for him to hold on to- then Ben punched it.

Hux nearly fell flat on his face.  He did go down on this hands and knees- catching himself just in time to keep from smacking his face on the ground.  His blaster clattered across the floor and fell out the open hatch.

His stomach sank- or maybe that was the ship.  At least one of the troopers fell out too.

He still had his lightsaber, strapped against his spine in a hidden sheath.  But he didn’t have time to get it out- besides, he’d never used in on a living person in earnest… Maybe he wouldn’t have to.

 _~Sharp left. ~_ he told Ben, bracing himself with the Force.

A moment later the ship veered sharply, yawing to the side and dumping two more troopers out the hatch.  Hux could see the ground for a moment-Ben was keeping low he realized, hugging the craggy ground around the facility.

 _~Can I close the ramp? ~_ Ben asked. _~I found the ramp controls. ~_

 _~Not yet. Two more. ~_ Hux said.  He scrambled to his feet as the ship leveled out.  The last trooper charged him.

Hux blocked the first punch, to his ribs, and countered with a kick to the knee.  It was largely useless to punch a Stormtrooper, their armor absorbed most of the impact from lesser blows.  The trooper sidestepped- Thrawn moved closer.  The Commander had been hanging back, but now appeared to be trying to get behind Hux while he was busy.

Distracted as he was by Thrawn Hux didn’t manage to dodge the Stormtroopers next punch, which caught him a glancing blow to the cheek.  Hux staggered back a step- he braced himself, collecting the Force around him and shoved the trooper hard in the chest.

The last trooper staggered backwards too far, and fell out of the open ramp with a surprised yelp.

Thrawn immediately tried to get him in a headlock.  Hux elbowed the Chiss hard in the gut and managed to twist away, putting a few feet between them.  Thrawn fell back into an unfamiliar defensive stance Hux wasn’t sure how to counter.

“You’re a spy aren’t you?” Hux asked, watching Thrawn’s face closely.  He licked his lips.  “Keeping tabs on the First Order for the Chiss?”

Thrawn did not react to Hux’s taunt- but Hux had spent the first 15 years of his life carefully not reacting to things.  A serene face meant nothing.  Especially in the face of accusations.

“Why else would you be here?  On some shitty half-manned research facility where the officer staff doesn’t think it’s unusual for technicians to turn up for scheduled maintenance three hours _early_.”

Ben shot him a spike of amusement.

“You’d be an excellent choice based on your previous history with the Empire- but you’ve been gone too long to simple step back in to your previous position, so you had to start moving up the ranks all over again.”  Hux concluded.

Abruptly Thrawn broke his pattern of holding the defensive and swung at Hux’s face.  He twisted away, dodging the blow- and Thrawn kicked him in the side, hard.  The force of the blow knocked him on his ass.

Hux grinned up at the stoic Chiss.  “Touched a nerve did I?” he asked.  Thrawn started toward him, and Hux waited until Thrawn was standing over him to kick at one of his legs, knocking Thrawn over onto him.

 _“LEFT!”_ Hux called.  He reached behind him and grabbed one of the exposed struts in the wall just as the entire shuttle tilted at a steep angle. 

Thrawn snagged one of Hux’s boots as he slid down towards the open hatch.  But the boot was criminally ill-fitting, and Hux just had to twist his foot just so-

The boot came off in Thrawn’s hands, sending it and Thrawn sliding down the steeply tilted deck and out the hatch.

 _~You can close the hatch now. ~_ Hux told Ben.  _~And then get us out of here. ~_

The ship straightened out immediately, the hatch closed shortly after.

Hux let go of the wall.  He stayed where he was- flat on his back on the floor- for a long moment, just breathing.

He can feel Ben’s creeping anxiety though, so Hux sent him a wordless reassurance and hauled himself to his feet and wandered into the cockpit.

Hux flopped into the co-pilot’s seat.  Considering his day so far he was lucky there was one at all. 

“Pessimist,” Ben said as he keyed in coordinates and took them to lightspeed.

Hux huffed and took his remaining boot off.

Ben turned to him- and hissed softly. “Why does everyone hit you in the face?”

“Jealousy,” Hux said immediately.  “Or maybe my face is just _exceptionally_ punchable.”   

“I mean, a little.”  Ben said.  He turned Hux’s chair to face him.  Their knees were almost brushing like this so it was easy for Ben to lean forward and cradled Hux’s face in his hands.  “Anything else?”

Hux shifted, and winced.  “Some assorted bruises.  Thrawn kicked me pretty hard on the side.”

Ben frowned.  “Let’s see if there’s a first aid kit on board.”

There was-wedged behind the toilet- but it was only for dealing with minor injuries.  Ben insisted they use a bacta patch on Hux’s cheek at least.  The rest of his injuries would have to wait until they rendezvoused with Leia.  Hux sat back and dozed while Ben flew.  The cut on his cheek was small enough it had healed over by the time they dropped out of hyperspace.

The fledgling Resistance was currently operating out of a large, positively antique cruiser of Calamarian make.  It was floating at a random- and therefore hopefully secret- point in deep space.

There was a frantic bit of hailing when they first came out of hyperspace, but Hux left it to Ben to make sure they weren’t shot down by his mother’s forces.  Hux was feeling wrung out- he always tended to crash after high stress situations.  Ben on the other hand was keyed up, and worried.

“I’m fine,” Hux protested Ben’s silent fussing.  “Adrenaline crash, that’s all.”

“Right.”  Ben agreed while projecting the exact opposite.  “Will you sit quietly for the field medic anyway?”  He let the ship’s automated systems land, turning to examine Hux instead.

Hux sat up straight and _did not_ wince as his side ached.  “You called for a field medic?”  he protested.  “It’s just bruising!”

Ben took one of his hands and kissed it.  “Then let them look at it and tell me I’m stupid for worrying.  The sooner you get a clean bill of health the sooner we get to Naboo.”

The ship had touched down while they were talking and now a voice called “Uhhmmm…Hello?” from the hold.

“In there!” Ben called.

A buff middle-aged woman with close cropped blonde hair came in, hauling her medical kit.  “What’s the problem?”

“I’m tired and he’s a worrywart,” Hux said.

“He got kicked in the side pretty hard, and got tossed around in the cabin a bit.  Can you make sure he’s ok?” Ben said over him.

The medic insisted on having a look at his side, and Hux grudgingly complied.

“There’s no serious internal damage.” The medic said.  “You’re going to bruise- probably pretty spectacularly.  I can apply some analgestic gel that should ease any soreness and help control the bruising.”

“Alright.” Hux agreed.  He waved a hand at Ben.  “Go debrief your mother. Naboo’s waiting.”

Ben went, though he pouted all the way. 

Once he’d been slathered up and had some bandages plastered over the gel to keep it off his shirt the medic left.

He heard the medic speaking to Ben- and someone else?  Just outside the ship.  Of course.  Hux rolled his eyes and got up.

He stood in the doorway of the cockpit and stared down at the open ramp.  He had about six inches of space to awkwardly edge around the hole in the floor.  “I feel like this is a design flaw,” he said.

“What?”  Ben called from outside the ship.

“Nothing!  Your ship is perfect and beautiful and this ramp is not a safety hazard!”

Ben laughed- as did someone else.  The mystery voice said “There’s your mom now.”

“Right,” Ben said.  “I’d better go.”

“See ya buddy.”

Hux edged around the ramp.  He yawned tremendously and wondered if the Resistance had caf.  He bumped into the exposed toilet.  Hux glared at the offending object.  “You can be replaced you know,” he muttered at it. 

…Yes he definitely needed caf.

He walked down the ramp and found a short tan human man in a pilot’s jumpsuit waiting there.  There was an orange and white BB unit by his legs.  Custom model, newer, personal droid then, not a Resistance cast off.  Ben was across the hangar speaking to his mother.

“Hi, Poe Dameron,” the pilot grabbed Hux’s hand and shook it. 

_Oh._   Hux gave the man a second look over.  Dark thick curly hair, dark eyes, strong jaw.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Dameron continued, still holding Hux’s hand.  He winked. “It’s Hugs right?”

Hux stared.  …Did Dameron think he was being funny?  …Was this some kind of awkward attempt to hit on him?  Ben was _right there_.  He certainly didn’t see what younger Ben could have found so charming.

Dameron’s cocky smile had gone nervous, possibly because Hux had been staring mutely at him for several seconds.

Hux pulled his hand free. “No,” he said and went to Ben.

The droid burbled something as he walked away- presumably at Dameron, who answered not quite quietly enough.  “I’m either about to piss myself or in love.”

* * *

“Does your offer to kill people who hit on me apply to anyone?” Hux asked as he walked up.

“Who’s hitting on you?” Ben looked around. Poe was standing a few yards away looking dazed.  “Poe?”

Hux nodded. “I think so?” he said.  “Either that or he has no idea how to interact with people.”

“Poe is very personable,” his Mom protested.

“So yes,” Hux said.

Ben nodded, and then Force-shoved BB-8 into Poe’s legs, knocking him over.

“Ben!” Mom snapped.  Hux snickered.

“Sorry,” Ben lied. He took Hux’s hand, threading their fingers together.  “So do you need anything else?” he asked.  “Hux and I have plans.”

“You can’t keep the shuttle,” Mom protested.  “It’s too conspicuous.”

“I don’t know about that,” Hux protested.  “It seems to me like exactly the kind of thing a rich spoiled senator’s son would own.  It’s sleek and ridiculous looking.  There’s no obviously military external hardware and he could have the inside done up as a nice little living space.

“It’s obviously designed by Sienar Fleet Systems- excuse me, Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems-  I bet they were sloppy with the manufacturing locations too, especially on some of those specialized sensor arrays. ” Hux continued.  “I could probably put together a decent breakdown of _Republic_ parts used in this _First Order_ ship.  And it’s currently unregistered.  I can’t imagine it would be too hard to convince them to register it as a private craft.”

Leia leveled a displeased look at Hux- though Hux met her gaze coolly.  “Still-“ she began.

“Pleeeease?”  Ben interrupted.  “My last shuttle got blown up!”

“On a ‘simple’ mission he did as a favor to you,” Hux added.  Then he groaned, “Oh kriff, like, 83 percent of my clothing was on that shuttle.  And all of my shoes.”  He looked down at his bare feet.

“83 percent?”  Mom asked.

“My wardrobe’s not that big the math isn’t hard.” Hux replied immediately.

“I’ll buy you new clothes.” Ben promised, “And shoes.”  He squeezed Hux’s fingers.

The tiny smile that graced Hux’s face then was so cute Ben _had_ to kiss him.

Hux hummed very softly into the kiss and Ben could feel how tired Hux was.  Hux was always tired, but now he was just done.  Ben resolved to finish this talk with his Mom quickly.  They were due in Naboo.  Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his Mom rolling her eyes.

“Besides, how are we supposed to get to Naboo without a shuttle?”  Ben said.

“Naboo?” Leia asked.

“It’s the next stop on our galaxy tour! Hux really wants to go!”   Hux was currently leaning on his shoulder with his eyes half closed, but he nodded in agreement.

Leia sighed. “Fine.”

Ben grinned and pulled his Mom into a one armed hug. “Thanks Mom!”

Mom hugged him back.  She actually hugged him _and Hux_ , sweeping him up in her attempt to hug him.  Hux looked up at him with a put upon expression and sighed.

“Umm…” Ben said when his Mom finally let them go.  “Do you have any clothes we can borrow?  At least a pair of shoes.”  He looked down at Hux’s bare feet.  “I don’t think it’d be a good idea for us to turn up on Naboo dressed like this.”

* * *

Naboo was lovely.  Just as lovely as he’d always heard.  Theed was particularly gorgeous. 

They’d gone shopping as soon as they landed, a necessary move as both of them were still wearing a mishmash of clothing they’d gotten on the Resistance base.  The staff at the boutiques they went to had been so confused.

Then Ben had half- dragged Hux to a luxury hotel Hux would have never even considered staying in.  Their room had a bathtub big enough for six people, and _two beds_.  One was an enormous silk shrouded monstrosity in the master bedroom.  The other was out on the balcony, it was round, with pale green sheets, and had a gauzy canopy around it.

It was out on this second bed that Hux settled while Ben went off to officially register the Mynock-Fucker.  There was an excellent view of the numerous waterfalls, and it was nice to lay out in the open air without being totally exposed. 

“Hux?” Ben called from inside.  He didn’t answer, Ben would find him soon enough.

“There you are!” Ben said, sliding onto the bed beside Hux.  “Enjoying the view?”

“Mm-hm.”  He looked up from his datapad to smile at Ben.

Ben gestured to Hux’s datapad, “Whatcha working on?”

Hux smirked and handed the pad to Ben. “’Pick an outfit and we’ll tell you what food from Biscuit Baron you are,’” Ben read.  “Really?”

“I’m their Cinnamon Twizzle Sticks,” Hux said as seriously as he could muster.

Ben stared at him. He frowned.  “You totally are.”  He stared down at the quiz. “ _How.”_

“I know right?  These quizzes are _fascinating_.”  Hux grinned.  “Do you want to find out what you are?”

Ben set the pad aside. “Not in the slightest.”

He cupped Hux’s face in his hands.  “How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” Hux admitted.  “I took a nap.”

“How’s your side?”

“Fading quickly,” Hux said.  “Should have asked the medic what exactly that gel was.”  He pulled up his shirt to show Ben.  Ben gently ran a hand over the faint mark. 

“Do you think Thrawn is really a Chiss spy?”

“Maybe,” Hux said.  “Either that or he really did get exiled- but then where did he go in the time he was missing?  I can’t imagine he’s particularly dedicated to the First Order.  Whichever one it was he certainly got pissed when I brought it up.”  He couldn’t help the vindictive twist to his lips.

Ben laughed. “Of course.  Of course your lifegoals list includes ‘meet childhood heroes and antagonize them.’”

Hux sniffed.  “I have simple wants.”

Ben grinned and tugged Hux against him, sliding his arms around Hux’s waist.  “So he _was_ a childhood hero?” he teased.  “Did you have a crush on him?”

Hux looked away, he could feel himself blushing.

Ben kissed his cheek.  “Don’t be embarrassed.  We all have regrettable childhood crushes.”

Hux seized on that immediately.  He looked up at Ben.  “Speaking of which, Poe Dameron?  Really?  At least Thrawn was _polite_.”

“He tried to kill you!” Ben protested.

Hux huffed. “You know what I mean.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Ben groaned.

Hux shrugged. “And?”

Ben kissed him.  “And I love you.”

Hux hummed and curled up against Ben’s chest. “How’d your trip to Sienar Fleet Systems go?”

Ben grinned.  “Great.  You really should have come, you’d’ve enjoyed it.”

Hux smiled, “Tell me.”

“So the Naboo office is just a tiny little storefront.  I came in, scared the hell out of the secretary there, and asked to see the manager.  So that took forever- there were only like ten people in the office but I had to talk to literally all of them before I got to the manager.  I told her there’s been a mix up, that the ship I’d bought from them hadn’t been registered, and I pulled up a holo of the Nightsinger.”

“The Nightsinger,” Hux interrupted.

“Not as catchy as the Mynock-Fucker I know, but I wanted to be able to say the name of the ship around Rey.”

 “It’s fitting I suppose.” Hux admitted.  He sniffed. “I’ll allow it.”

Ben kissed Hux’s temple.  “Thanks, Your Imperial Bitchiness.”

Hux huffed.  “What did the poor manager say when you showed her your totally not stolen ship?”

“She didn’t say anything. For like, a solid minute.  So I said, ‘You know where I got this.  If you don’t want everyone else to know where I got this you’re going to register it as a custom designed personal craft.’  And she was like, ‘You can’t prove we built that.’  And then I showed her that little file you put together… she went sheet white.  I thought she was going to pass out for a minute.  And then she very politely excused herself and left the room and when she came back it wasn’t just her.  She had the president of Sienar Fleet Systems on her wrist comm.”

Hux snorted.

“He said that that little file I had was impressively well researched.” Hux preened just a little, and Ben grinned at him before continuing. “But that no one would bother listening to some nobody with sticky fingers.  So I said, “Oh! I don’t think I’ve introduced myself! I’m Ben. Ben _Organa Solo_.”

Hux started snickering. “And then what happened?”

“He stared at me like he wanted to punch me in the face.  And then he sighed and told the manager to start filling out the registration paperwork,” Ben said.  “So the Nightsinger is officially registered to me, and I have another appointment in two days with their design team to work on the interior. …I know it’s short notice, but do you think you could-”

Hux flopped over onto his back and awkwardly grabbed his datapad.  He closed the Holonet window and projected the designs he’d been working on before that.  “This is just a rough design, tell me if you want any changes.” He said as his rough designs for the interior of the shuttle appeared. “I think you should shrink the cockpit- it’s currently built for a four or five person crew- but you could easily move all the functions to two consoles and make the cockpit a two-seater, and that would give you more room for the living quarters.”

Ben sat up and looked over the blueprints.  Hux sat up too, and started explaining. “So from the cockpit the right wall is the galley and a dining area.  There’s also a lot of additional storage in the built-ins over there.  If you don’t like the soft curve in the design I can-”

“I love it, and you’re right about shrinking the cockpit.” Ben interrupted. He slid an arm around Hux’s waist “Tell me about the rest.”

“Right,” Hux licked his lips. “So, lots of open space in the center of the room- not quite enough to spar in, but more than enough for stretching or meditation.  I also moved the refresher.  Over on the far left.  It’s not very big, but there’s a full sized shower- water and sonic- oh and I think I’ve worked out how to increase the total water payload, but that’s something I’d need to bother the Sienar engineers about.  There’s room in the refresher for a small medstation too.  I was thinking we could get one of those new medical droids.  The little ones.”

“The HG models?” Ben asked.  He’d been slowly dragging Hux toward him as Hux described the designs, and now he hauled Hux up into his lap.  Hux squirmed down a little so he fit under Ben’s chin, and nodded.  “That’d be a good idea.  Considering our …active lifestyle.”

Hux laughed.  “Is that what we’re calling it now?  _Anyway,_ ” Hux continued before Ben could sidetrack him.  “The bed’s a little narrow, but it should be long enough your feet don’t hang off, that was the largest bed I could get in there without pushing into the living space more.” He’d had to put the bed in sideways, the bedroom was a decent size- but it was long and narrow.  “And there’s a little desk there too, and more storage.”

Ben was nodding, Hux could feel it. “What’s this?” Ben asked, pointing to an awkward trapezoid of space on the other side of the bedroom.  “More storage?”

“Yes,” Hux said.  “Although…  I was thinking… we could install a transparisteel door, maybe a containment field… just in case.”

He could almost _hear_ Ben frown. “‘Just in case’ what?”

“I assume this isn’t the last time we’ll be …assisting your mother?” Hux said.

Ben squeezed him gently. “Are you ok with that?  I know I dragged you into things this time.  I think _I’ll_ probably wind up doing Mom’s chores again, but if you don’t want you absolutely don’t have to-”

“It’s fine,” Hux said.  “I’m not going to make it my day job or anything.  But an occasional jaunt would be fine.”

Ben laughed.  “The just in case room is a good idea.”  He tugged Hux’s datapad out of his hand, and laid it aside.  “The design’s perfect,” he said.  Hux twisted around to face Ben, wrapping his legs around Ben’s waist.  “You wanna come with me to boss the Sienar designers around in a few days?”

“Absolutely.”

Ben laughed.  “And of course we aren’t going to make it our day jobs.  I’m busy being Leia Organa’s disappointing lay-about son who’s somehow convinced the Republic’s new up-and-coming architect and engineer to hang out with him.”

“I’ve only had two commissions.” Hux protested.

“So far,” Ben insisted.

Hux smiled and kissed Ben’s forehead.  “I can’t imagine what a young architect and engineer could possibly want with a smart, loving, beautiful young rich boy to buy him fancy clothes in put him up in hotel rooms larger than his apartment.”

Ben pushed Hux down onto the bed, and moved on top of him.  Ben kissed him, long lingering kisses as his hands slid under Hux’s shirt.  Hux moaned, and managed to pull Ben’s shirt mostly off. 

Ben had to break off the kiss and pull back a bit to help Hux get his shirt off.  Hux tried to drag him back down immediately, but Ben stayed back, looking down at Hux. “Well,” he said. “He is a Jedi, maybe he’s mind-tricking his cute engineer boyfriend.”

Hux laughed. “You wish!”  Since Ben was still too far away Hux pulled his own shirt off, tossing it aside.

His ploy to get Ben back worked.  “I really don’t,” Ben said, as he leaned back down and pressed his mouth against Hux’s neck, just where his pulse pounded under his skin.

**Author's Note:**

> Awwww True Love. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren + Upsilon Shuttle 5evar! 
> 
> Nightsingers, for people who don't know, are Space Dragons from one of the old Star Wars RPGs, and Ben's favorite hologame is The Nightsinger Chronicles.
> 
> I almost put Eli in this fic. I actually wrote an epilogue with him that I ultimately felt didn't really fit with the rest of the fic. Just assume he's off screen somewhere. Possibly getting a migraine.
> 
> Fun Fact: The working title for this was "Ben Solo Steals All The First Order's Best Stuff."


End file.
